REPORT RELEASED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN DURING MAY

INU – An Iranian human rights groups has just released its monthly report on the situation of human rights in Iran for May 2018 and, as always, it contains numerous incidents of executions, amputations, torture, false imprisonment, violence against peaceful protesters, destruction of property, and repression of marginalised groups.

The report, released by Iran Human Rights Monitor on Tuesday, cites 16 executions, 17 extrajudicial killings, five flogging sentences, as well as increases in intimidation or violence against prisoners, protesters, strikers, and women.

PROTESTS

In Kazerun, peaceful protesters were violently attacked by the state security forces. The Regime’s agents can be seen in video footage opening fire on the crowd from a rooftop, killing four and wounding many more.

Then, the security forces arrested many of the protesters as part of their ongoing attempt to suppress the nationwide anti-regime uprising that first took hold of the country in December.

DEATHS

Iran carried out 16 executions in May, three of them in public. They also gave the names of 57 people on death row.

Regime agents also murdered 17 people without any semblance of justice, including the four protesters mentioned above and nine porters who were killed by Border Guards.

As for prisoners, two inmates have committed suicide in protest to the inhumane conditions they are living under and at least one more died after being denied medical care.

ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT

There were 410 people arrested in Iran in May, including 148 on political grounds, seven on religious/ethnic grounds, and 255 on social grounds.

In May, 16 inmates went on hunger strikes to protest the denial of their rights.

WOMEN IN PRISON

Female prisoners in Iran face harsh conditions – including having to raise their young children inside the prison – but around 73% have been jailed for poverty, which is caused by the policies of the Regime. These poverty “crimes” include making promises to pay and then not having the money or not paying a dowry.

Women who are a member of a religious minority fare worse, with Yaresan women in Qarchak Prison facing horrible and harsh treatment. One Yaresan woman arrested at a recent protest was badly injured, but is still being denied medical care while in prison.

FOOD AND WATER SHORTAGES

This is a constant problem in Iran. In Sistan and Baluchistan provinces, 75% of residents are living in poverty and do not have adequate access to food. Some people have even been forced to move to areas where there is less pressure on resources.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)said in a statement: “Human rights abuses under the ruling regime are a constant and growing atrocity. The MEK believes that the only solution to the suffering of the Iranian people is regime change, and the recent uprising across Iran shows that the people of Iran agree.”